The Holly And The Ivy
by notaguitar
Summary: Christmas Fanfic. Barnaby and Kotetsu do a Christmas Eve gift exchange! Bonding ensues!


**A/N:** Happy Holidays, everyone :) Just an idea I had so I wrote it out. Enjoy!

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><p>"Well, whaddya think?" Kotetsu's voice was brimming with anticipation; his eyes eagerly gazing at Barnaby.<p>

The two were in Barnaby's apartment. It was December twenty-fourth, and despite wanting to be at home with his daughter, Kotetsu was bound to his duty as a hero. The restriction of his work was not going to thwart his Christmas, and being such an enormous fan of the season, Kotetsu devised a plan in an attempt to make working on Christmas Eve more enjoyable. Of course, he wanted an extravagant holiday adventure filled with presents, cookies, and Christmas carolling, but convincing Barnaby to join in on such activities proved impossible. In the end, they had settled on a simple gift exchange between the two of them. Barnaby wasn't usually thrilled about Christmas, it always roused bad memories, but he had reluctantly relented to Kotetsu's idea.

Barnaby leered down at the present in his hands. From what he could tell, it was a scraggly knitted winter hat. The wool was a faded red colour, almost pink; it was stringy and coarse, not at all ideal for comfortable headgear. Strange large protrusions poked out from the top of the hat, and a lop-sided animal face was sewn onto the front. Tracing his index finger along one of the eyes on the hat, Barnaby couldn't help but wonder why Kotetsu thought this was a nice gift. To Barnaby, it looked more like a pile of loose wool sloppily knotted together in an attempt to create a hat. His eyes then raised to his partner. With a frown on his lips and obvious distaste in his eyes, Barnaby responded:

"It's hideous."

Kotetsu's face fell in confusion. "Hideous? C'mon, no it's not!"

"It's disturbing," Barnaby grimaced, dangling the hat between them by a loose string. "You don't expect me to wear it do you?"

"Of course I do!" Kotetsu nearly shouted, reaching out to snatch the hat from the blonde's hands. "Here, it'll look better on."

"No," Barnaby protested, stepping back.

"Shut up, c'mere, I'll put it on!"

Reaching out, Kotetsu managed to pull the hat roughly down over curls of golden hair. Barnaby resisted, prying Kotetsu's wrists away as the older man gruffly adjusted the hat. The two staggered a few steps, Barnaby stumbling backwards to evade Kotetsu's persistence.

"Quit it, you're screwing with my hair!" Barnaby complained, finally able to push Kotetsu off.

Taking a moment to examine the hat, Kotetsu placed his hand to his chin. "See! You look good!" he insisted, nodding at Barnaby with a genuine smile. "And I made sure it was a bunny hat, since you're a bunny."

"I'm not a bunny," Barnaby said bluntly, his arms folded across his chest. Ignoring his instinct to rip the hat off and toss it to the ground, Barnaby walked over the large window of his apartment, attempting to catch his reflection in the glass.

The hat was limp on his head. Two lumps hung down from either side, supposedly they were rabbit ears, however, one was overstuffed and larger than the other. Accompanied by their lack of equal stuffing distribution, their placement was uneven. Two green button eyes were placed lopsided in the center of the hat. One button was looser and hung forward, sagging slightly from the wool it was sewn onto. The mouth of the rabbit was felt material, it was positioned too close to the right eye, nearly directly under it. It almost looked frightening in a way, its demented face forever frozen in a creepy grin. Barnaby over-exaggeratedly shuddered.

"I regret buying you that nice shaving kit now," Barnaby lamented, reaching one hand up to delicately push the loose button-eye into place.

"Hey now," Kotetsu said, walking to stand beside Barnaby. Their reflections were dim against the glass, overpowered by the city lights below them. "When I opened that you told me it was to 'shave that stupid beard'."

Barnaby sighed, removing the winter hat from his head to look at it in his hands. "How did you manage to buy something this ugly?"

Again, Kotetsu grabbed it from Barnaby's hands. This time, however, he didn't force the hat onto his partner. A sad serenity swept Kotetsu's features as he took the hat in his hands.

"I didn't buy it," Kotetsu responded, his eyes fixated on the red knitted rabbit hat. "I made it."

"Made it?" Barnaby repeated quietly, he too was focused on the hat.

"Yeah, kinda stupid, I guess," Kotetsu smiled meekly, turning the hat over to the opposite side. A small cotton ball tail was sewn on, and Kotetsu flicked it gently with his fingers. "I was visiting Kaede last week, and I realized I hadn't got you a present yet. My mom knows how to knit, so I thought I'd learn and make you a hat to match the bunny we all got you for your birthday." His fingers played over the cotton tail until they traced their way to the smaller of the stuffed rabbit ears. "Thing is, I was busy tryin' to bond with Kaede, so I only had a day to learn to knit. I guess that explains why it's so crappy." He put his hand inside the hat, turning it to look at its scattered facial features.

Something about the disappointed look on the older man's face, and the honest effort Kotetsu had made in order to knit the hat aroused a tingling sensation in Barnaby's chest. The sensation was warm, quickly spreading throughout his entire chest, creating a definite sense of happiness that Barnaby wasn't accustomed to during the Christmas season. It seemed so typically cheesy of Kotetsu to truly exercise the old saying of _it's the thought that counts_. The image of Kotetsu hand-making him the gift, fumbling with knitting needles and wool, earnestly trying to overcome the clumsiness that Barnaby had come to know so well, was what made everything suddenly feel a lot more simple.

Barnaby stared down at the poorly knitted hat. The limp ears, cotton tail, and oddly placed button eyes didn't seem so strange now that Barnaby knew Kotetsu had made it. It wouldn't have been very much like the older man if the rabbit had been perfectly put together. It was classic Kotetsu to prove that even if you don't do something perfectly, it can still be perfect so long as you put your whole heart into it. Unable to resist it, Barnaby felt a smile creep across his face.

Taking the hat off of Kotetsu's hand carefully, Barnaby replaced it onto his head. Returning to the window, he checked his reflection, adjusting out of place hairs and the hat accordingly. Barnaby felt ridiculous. The hat was still horrendously unattractive, but it carried a new meaning.

"You don't have to wear it just 'cos you feel bad, yanno." Kotetsu returned to Barnaby's side, keeping his attention focused on his young partner.

"I don't feel bad," Barnaby smiled, turning away from the window to look at Kotetsu. There was warm thankfulness in the way he looked at the older man. "I'm wearing it because I like it."

Kotetsu leaned forward, one hand planted firmly on his hip, skepticism in his eyes. "You do?"

"Yes…" Barnaby paused, looking thoughtful as his smile turned mischievous. "…but I reserve the right to never wear it in public."

Kotetsu's usual warm grin reappeared on his face. He bumped his fist gently to Barnaby's chest, over the young man's heart. "_And the Grinch's heart grew three sizes that day_," Kotetsu quoted happily, winking.

Barnaby scoffed loudly, lightly pushing Kotetsu's hand aside. "I'm only wearing it in hopes you'll shave that stupid beard."

With a throaty chuckle, Kotetsu's shook his head from side to side and tossed his arms up in a shrug. "Better luck next year."

They stood quietly at the window, expressing their silent gratitude to each other with their smiles. After a few moments, they both turned back to the cityscape of Sternbuild. The lights of the city illuminated the world in a fuzzy glow of colours as delicate snowflakes tumbled down from the grey clouds. Kotetsu raised one hand, pressing it against the glass, he shut his eyes. Barnaby mimicked him, closing his eyes as well.

In that moment, they felt blissfully at ease.

"Merry Christmas, old man," Barnaby said, peeking one eye open to nudge his shoulder against Kotetsu's.

Kotetsu nudged back: "Merry Christmas, Bunny."


End file.
